Automatic coupler centering device



June 14, 1966 AUTOMATIC COUPLER CEN'IERING DEVICE 2 Sheets-Shaw 1 Filed May 17, 1965 Invenor:

Geoffrey W Cop e @www his Aitorney June 14, 1966 G. w. COPE AUTOMATIC COUPLER GENTERING DEVICE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed May 17, 1965 Inventor:

Geoffrey W. Cope his Attorney United States Patent O 3,255,891 AUTOMATIC COUPLER CENTERING DEVICE Geoffrey W. Cope, Williamsville, N.Y., assignor to Symngton Wayne Corporation, Salisbury, Md., a corporation of Maryland Filed May 17, 1965, Ser. No. 456,254 Claims. (Cl. 213-19) This invention relates to centering devices for railway car couplers.

The primary object of the invention is to provide an improved device for automatically centering a coupler on underlying track, whereby cars so equipped can be coupled automatically whether the track on which the coupling operation is performed is straight or curved.

Another object of the invention is to provide an im-l proved automatic coupler centering device whereby the angling of an adjoining truck relative to the body of the car is availed of to center an uncoupled coupler on underlying track without interfering with the movements of the coupler after coupling in response to the relative angling of connected cars.

A further object of the invention is to provide an automatic centering device which not only makes use of the angling of an adjoining .truck for centering an uncoupled coupler on underlying track, but can be applied to either new or existing cars with minimum modification of related structure and can readily be varied to suit the length and overhang of a particular car.

Other `objects and advantages of the invention will appear hereinafter in the detailed description, be particularly pointed out in the appended claims and be illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevational view of an end portion of the underframing of a railway car incorporating a preferred embodiment of the automatic coupler centering device of the present invention, with portions of the underframing removed to more clearly illustrate certain of the details of construction;`

FIGURE 2' is a fragmentary plan view .of the structure of FIGURE l;

FIGURE 3 is a -fragmentary vertical sectional view on an enlarged scale taken along lines 3-3 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary side elevational view on the scale of FIGURE 3 of the front part of the structure of FIGURE 1, with portions broken away and shown in section to more clearly illustrate certain of the details of construction;

FIGURE S is a plan view of one side of the structure of FIGURE 4, with portions broken away and shown in section to more clearly illustrate certain of the details of construction; and

FIGURE 6 is a central horizontal sectional view on the scale of FIGURE 3 of the rear part of one of the connecting rods.

Referring now in detail to the drawings in which like reference characters designate like parts, the improved automatic coupler centering device of the present invention is designed to center an uncoupled, horizontally swingable coupler on underlying track, such that, in a coupling operation performed on either straight or curved track, a pair of couplers will contact within their gathering range and couple automatically without pri-or positioning of either. While applicable to either passenger or freight cars, regardless of length, the improved device is designed particularly for freight cars which are so long, either overall or in their overhangs beyond their trucks, as to require their couplers to be centered on the underlying track in order to couple automatically. The problem is of course particularly acute on curved track in which the conventional devices for centering couplers on the centerlines of cars are ineffective.

As exemplary of the invention, a preferred embodiment of the improved device, designated as 1, has been illustrated applied `to a type H coupler 2 having a tightlock head 3 and connected for horizontal and vertical swinging to a yoke 4 by a swivel connection `5. As detailed in FIGURE 4, the head 3 differs from a typical type H head in having mounted on its underside an automatic air and electric coupler 6, such as now used on subway couplers, andbeing unlockab'le by a fluid-operated uncoupling mechanism 7, such as illustrated in my copending application Serial No. 442,423, filed March 24, 1965. Since vertically, as well as horizontally, swingable, the coupler 6 has its head 3 normally held at coupling height by a resilient coupler carrier 8 engaging the underside of and supporting its shank 9 forwardly of the swivel connection 5. As in the usual installation of a vertically and horizontally swingable coupler, the resilient coupler carrier 8 is mounted in the front end of a center sill 1l?, which extends the length of the car body, indicated at 11, and pockets the yoke 4 and the rear part ofthe coupler 3. Rearwardly of the yoke 4, at a distance determined by the overhang of the particular car, the illustrated end portion of the center sill 10 is mounted for relative horizontal swinging on the bolster 12 of one of the cars pair of trucks (not otherwise shown). Including `the enumerated parts, eX- cept for the body 11, the underfrarning 13 has at its opposite end an end portion duplicating that shown in the drawings.

While centering devices are normally spoken of as centering a coupler, it is of course the head of the coupler that must be centered for coupling purposes. On straight track, the head will be centered on both the underlying track and the -centerline of the car, but on curved track, the centering, to be effective, must be on the centerline of the underlying track. In either case,I the head need not to be centeredv precisely on the track, since it will have a gathering range of some order, depending upon its type, and it is in the sense of such inprecise but adequate centering that the term centering is herein used.

As a car moves along a track, its trucks swing horizontally relative to its center sill in following the tracks curvature and each bolster is at all times substaantially perpendicular or normal on straight track to the underlying track itself and on curved track to a tangent to the track. It is this horizontal swinging of the adjoining bolster 12 relative to the center sill 10 that is used in the centering device 1 for automatically centering the coupler 2, when uncoupled, on the underlying track, so as to have it ready for coupling at all such times.

The centering device 1 is comprised of a shift bar, shifter or centerer 14 extending laterally or crosswise of the center still 10 and vhaving laterally spaced, vertically directed or upright legs or anges 15 vertically overlapping and laterally embracing or straddling the shank 9 of :the coupler 2 forwardly of the vertical pivot 16 about which the coupler swings horizontally relative to the sill. The legs` 15 are connected by and integral with or fixed to a horizontally disposed cross web or head 17, which may be disposed below but, more conveniently, is disposed above or overlies and is vertically spaced `from the shank 9 and, with the legs 15, bounds or defines a longitudinally and downwardly opening aperture 18 in which the shank is received. Rounded or arcuately convex over their inner or shank-confronting or engaging surfaces 19, the legs 15 preferably have flat, horizontal undersides 20. The preferred shift bar 14 extends laterally through laterally aligned slots 21, cut or formed in the opposite side walls 22 of the center sill 1t?, and is slidably supported on the sill by the sliding engagement of the undersides 20 of its legs 15 with the bottom walls 23 of the slots, which for the purpose are fiat 4and horizontal.

Designed to shift laterally relative to the center sill 10, the shift ybar or shifter 14 is so shifted by pivotally connecting ears or projections 24 on its .opposite ends to the front or forwardly projecting arms 25 of a pair of vertically pivotable bellcranks or bellcrank levers 26. .Pivotally mounted on the outsides of the side walls 22, on U-shaped mounting brackets 27 welded or otherwise fixed thereto, with their vertical pivots 28 preferably laterally aligned with the couplers vertical pivot 16 in the latters normal or at rest position, the bellcranks 26 are actuated through their angularly related other or rear, angularly laterally extending or outstanding arms 29.

The rear arms 29 of the bellcranks'26 are connected to the truck bolster 12 atcorrespondingly opposite sides of the bolsters center pivot 31), by connecting, actuating or operating rods 31. Spaced by and extending along opposite sides of the center sill 10, the rods 31 are pivotally and preferably universally connected at their rear ends to brackets 32 integral with or xed to and projecting forwardly from the bolster 12 and pivotally connected at their front ends to the rear arms 29 of the bellcranks 26, as through clevises 33 preferably threaded onto the ends of the rods for adjusting their length.

With the above arrangement, any swinging or turning of the bolster 12 relative to the center sill 10 would cause the bellcranks 26 to swing, turn or pivot in unison in the same direction, each under the push or pull of its operating rod 31. In turn, the bellcranks 26 will shift the shift bar 14 laterally in the center sill 1G and, by engagement of one of the legs 15 of the shift bar with the shank 9 of the coupler 2, cause the coupler to swing in the same direction :toward one or the other of the limits of its swing, which in the illustrated embodiment vare imposed by stops 34 fixed to the insides of the forwardly flared front end portions 35 of the side walls 22 of the center sill 10. If, as preferred, the pivots of the bellcranks 26 and the coupler 2 normally are laterally aligned, the coupler on such swinging will swing through the same angle or arc as the bellcranks, except for the limited lateral play preferably provided for the shank 9 of the Coupler in the aperture 18 in the shift bar 14 to ensure freedom of longitudinal movement of the coupler in the center sill 10 under bufling and draft forces. In any case, the lateral swing of the coupler 2 in response to the swing of the adjoining truck bolster 12 relative to the center sill 10, will be in the same direction as and vary ydirectly with the swing of the bolster. However, to center the head 3 on the underlying track, the swing of the coupler 2 should be greater to compen- .state for the forward spacing of its pivot 16 from the bolsters pivot 30, this being provided in the illustrated embodiment by the larger moment arms at the bolster than at the bellcrank ends of the rods 31. The relation required between these moment arms in a particular installation will depeond on the length of the coupler and the longitudinal spacing between its pivot and that of the bolster and readily can be varied as necessary from the illustrated embodiment by changing either the spacing between the brackets 27 on and the pivot 30 of the bolster, or the length of the rear arms 29 of the bellcranks 26, or both.

Although satisfactory for centering an uncoupled co- .pler upon the underlying track, a push-pull connection of xed length between the bellcranks 26 and the bolster 12 would interfere with the lateral swinging of the coupler, when coupled, relative to the bolster in response to special conditions `requiring the coupler :to be eccentric or olf-center relative to the underlying track, such as those encountered on reverse and transition curves and cross-overs, and be particularly undesirable, if, as does the illustrated coupler, the coupled couplers both had heads of :the tightlock type. Accordingly, each of the connecting rods 31 is made telescopable or longitudinally yieldable in either direction under such forces. Preferably, the rods 31 are freely contractable but can extend or elongate only against a spring force and act only separately in pull in centering the coupler 2. In keeping, each of the illustrated rods is made in two parts, with a sleeve 36 fixed to one, here the rear part 37, and the other or front part 38 telescopingly received in the sleeve and having a head 39 at its rear end for compressing a coil spring 4t? therebetween and the apertured front wall 41 of the sleeve. The heads 39 normally are so spaced intermediate or from the ends of the sleeves 36 as to permit them to move rearwardly freely and Iforwardly against yieldable resistance the distances required to accommodate the limits of angling of the coupler 2, when coupled, relative to the ybolster 12. The springs 4t) preferably are preor partly compressed in the normal or at rest condition shown in solid line in FIGURE 2 with their force such as substantially to prevent extension of the pulling rod 31 under :the forces involved in centering an uncoupled coupler but permit extension of either rod under the greater forces encountered when the coupler, after coupling, swings or angles relative to the bolster 12 to accommodate special conditions, To facilitate and capture the precompression of the springs 41, the end portion 42 of each .part 38, which normally is within the sleeve 36, is of reduced cross-section and carries at the front a washer or collar 43 having a sliding t with both the end portion and the sleeve, As convenient, the head 39 may either be screwed or slid onto the end portion 42 to compress the spring to the desired extent and then pinned or otherwise locked in place. The centering device 1 will automatically maintain an uncoupled coupler centered on the underlying track in position for automatic coupling without interfering with any swinging of the coupler when coupled away from the center of the track as required to meet special conditions.

From the above detailed description it will be apparent that there has been provided an improved automatic coupler centering device which simply and effectively solves the problem of coupling long cars on curved as well as straight track, It should be understood that the described and disclosed embodiment is merely exemplary of the invention and that all modications are intended to be included that do not depart from the spirit of the in` vention and the scope of the appended claims.

Having described my invent-ion, I claim:

1. In railway car underframing having a center sill and a coupler and a truck bolster connected at longitudinally spaced positions to the sill for horizontal swinging relative thereto, an automatic coupler centering device comprising laterally shiftable shifter means laterally embracing a shank of said coupler, lever means mounted on opposite sides of said sill and connected to opposite ends of said shifter means for laterally shifting said means, and longitudinally yieldable rod means connecting said lever means to said bolster at opposite sides of a pivot thereof and acting thorugh said lever and shifter means for causing said coupler when uncoupled to swing horizontally in unison with said bolster and be centered on underlying track.

2. In railway car underfrarning having a center sill and a coupler and a truckbolster connected at longitudinally spaced positions to the sill for horizontal swinging relative thereto, an automatic coupler centering device comprising laterally shiftable shifter means laterally ernbracing a shank of said coupler forwardly of a vertical pivot thereof, bellcranks mounted on opposite sides of said sill rearwardly of said shifter means, said bellcranks having front arms pivotally connected to opposite ends for lateral shifting thereof, and longitudinally yieldable rods connecting other arms of said bellcranks to said bolster at corresponding sides of a pivot thereof and acting through said bellcranks and shifter means for causing said coupler when uncoupled to swing horizontally in unison with said bolster relative to said sill and be centered on underlying track.

3. In railway car underframing having a center sill and a coupler and a truck bolster connected at longitudinally spaced positions to the sill for horizontal swinging relative thereto, an automatic coupler centering device comprising laterally shiftable shifter means laterally embracing a shank of said coupler forwardly of a vertical pivot thereof, bellcranks mounted on opposite sides of said sill for pivoting about vertical pivots normally laterally aligned with said coupler vertical pivot, front arms on said bellcranks pivotally connected to opposite ends of said shifter means for lateral shifting thereof, and longitudinally yieldable rods pivotally connected at the front to other arms of said bellcranks and at the rear to said bolster at corresponding sides of a pivot thereof, said rods acting through said bellcranks and shifter means for causing said coupler when uncoupled to swing horizontally in unison with said bolster and be centered on Iunderlying track.

4. In railway car underframing having a center sill and a coupler and a truck bolster connected at longitudinally spaced positions to the sill for horizontal swinging relative thereto, an automatic coupler centering device comprising a shifter bar slidably mounted on land eXtending laterally through said center sill and apertured for laterally embracing a shank of said coupler forwardly of a vertical pivot thereof, bellcranks mounted on opposite `sides of said sill for pivoting about vertical pivots normally laterally aligned with said coupler vertical pivot, front arms on said bellcranks pivotally connected to opposite ends of said shifter bar, and longitudinally yieldable rods pivotally connected at the front to other arms of said bellcranks and universally connected at the rear to said bolster at corresponding sides of a pivot thereof, said rods acting through said bellcranks and shifter bar for causing said coupler when uncoupled to swing in unison with said bolster and be centered on underlying track, and said rods on coupling of said coupler yielding longitudinally as and a coupler and a truck bolster connected at longitudinally spaced positions to the sill for horizontal swinging relative thereto, an automatic coupler centering device comprising a shifter lbar slidably mounted on and extendin-g laterally through said center sill and apert'ured for laterally embracing a shank of said coupler forwardly of a vertical pivot thereof, bellcranks mounted on opposite sides of said sill for pivoting about vertical pivots normally laterally aligned with said coupler vertical pivot, front 4arms on said bellcranks pivotally connected to opposite ends of said shifter bar, longitudinally y-ieldable rods pivotally connected at the front to other arms of said bellcranks and universally connected at the rear to said bolster at corresponding sides of a pivot thereof and acting through said bellcranks and shifter bar for causing said coupler to swing horizontally in unison with said bolster and be centered on underlying track, each of said rods being plural part and having a sleeve iixed to one part and the other part slidably received in said sleeve, and spring means in each sleeve and acting between a headed end of said other part and an apertured outer end of said sleeve for yieldably permitting extension of either rod -under forces applied thereto through said coupler when coupled to another coupler.

necessary to permit said coupler to swing horizontally in response to relative angling of related coupled cars.

5. In railway car underframing having a center sill References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 873,287 12/1907 Barth 213-76 873,288 12/1907 Barth 2l3-76 907,072 12/ 1908 Matthews 213--20 FOREIGN PATENTS 433,463 9/ 1926 Germany.

EUGENE G. BOTZ, Primary Examiner.. B. FAUST, Assistant Examiner. 

5. IN RAILWAY CAR UNDERFRAMING HAVING A CENTER SILL AND A COUPLER AND A TRUCK BOLSTER CONNECTED AT LONGITUDINALLY SPACED POSITIONS TO THE SILL FOR HORIZONTAL SWINGING RELATIVE THERTO, AN AUTOMATIC COUPLER CENTERING DEVICE COMPRISING A SHIFTER BAR SLIDABLY MOUNTED ON AND EXTENDING LATERALLY THROUGH SAID CENTER SILL AND APERTURED FOR LATERALLY EMBRACING A SHANK OF SAID COUPLER FORWARDLY OF A VERTICAL PIVOT THEREOF, BELLCRANKS MOUNTED ON OPPOSITE SIDES OF SAID SILL FOR PIVOTING ABOUT VERTICAL PIVOT NORMALLY LATERALLY ALIGNED WITH SAID COUPLER VERTICAL PIVOT, FRONT ARMS ON SAID BELLCRANKS PIVOTALLY CONNECTED TO OPPOSITE ENDS OF SAID SHIFTER BAR, LONGITUDINALLY YIELDABLE RODS PIVOTALLY CONNECTED AT THE FRONT TO OTHER ARMS OF SAID BELLCRANKS AND UNIVERSALLY CONNECTED AT THE REAR TO SAID BOLSTER AT CORRESPONDING SIDES OF A PIVOT THEREOF AND ACTING THROUGH SAID BELLCRANKS AND SHIFTER BAR FOR CAUSING SAID COUPLER TO SWING HORIZONTALLY IN UNISON WITH SAID BOLSTER AND BE CENTERED ON UNDERLYING TRACK, EACH OF SAID RODS BEING PLURAL PART AND HAVING A SLEEVE FIXED TO ONE PART AND THE OTHER PART SLIDABLY RECEIVED IN SAID SLEEVE, AND SPRING MEANS IN EACH SLEEVE AND ACTING BETWEEN A HEADED END OF SAID OTHER PART AND AN APERTURED OUTER END OF SAID SLEEVE FOR YIELDABLY PERMITTING EXTENSION OF EITHER ROD UNDER FORCES APPLIED THERETO THROUGH SAID COUPLER WHEN COUPLED TO ANOTHER COUPLER. 